CIt’s time for divorce. The end of the story between Stade Bordeaux Atlantique (SBA), the stadium operator, and Bordeaux Métropole is getting closer. There is no longer any contact between the two entities. The Vinci-Fayat subsidiary will file for bankruptcy in the coming days. And the next exchanges should be done through lawyers. The consequences are serious, in particular for Bordeaux Métropole, which took over the contracts signed in 2011 by the Bordeaux town hall during the Juppé period, then transferred to the intercommunality. At the end of a procedure that promises to be long, she will find herself managing the stadium directly. What will the cost be? What future for this stadium? What is the outcome of this PPP (public-private partnership) contract in an impasse? Christine Bost, socialist president of Bordeaux Métropole, speaks for the first time on this issue, which has until now been treated with the greatest discretion.
Is there any room for maneuver left for the Metropolis to avoid the stadium operator filing for bankruptcy?
It is the Nanterre court which will judge. But the Metropolis does not intend to permanently compensate a contract which has very probably been poorly evaluated by the operator itself. This contract was not proposed by the Metropolis – the City of Bordeaux at the time – but by SBA. From the start, there was a poor assessment of the terms of this contract. We inherit the situation. The Metropolis cannot alone fill SBA’s operating deficit for the years to come: we had made very concrete proposals at the end of 2023 with Alain Anziani, then when I took over from him, in a process of collective conciliation to find a way out and more serenity in this contractual relationship. SBA asked for more, it is clear that we did not find common ground.
Today, is Bordeaux Métropole ready to assume the full cost of what remains to be paid?
We are preparing for all the hypotheses and filing for bankruptcy was one of the possible scenarios. Yes, we are ready. All the elements of the end of the public-private partnership will have to be assessed, the finest jurists will have to look into the subject, there will be a whole legal artillery to bring out… As for the debt, the amount remaining to be paid is 85 million euros. But this debt is already in the accounts of the Metropolis: it is already the Metropolis which finances the annuity. Every year, we pay 5 million directly to the banks, it is not SBA which bears this burden. Nothing changes for the Metropolis.
Except that banks may ask you to pay in full at once…
I don’t really understand this argument, as if it were about scaring Metropolitans even more. If the banks ask to pay right away, we will pay right away. But why would banks ask for repayment when we have never defaulted?
Do your constituents have reason to be reassured?
It is not the subject of the stadium which will prevent the Metropolis from investing, and from paying off this debt at once or until 2045. The savings which will be requested of us by the State within the framework of the Finance bill are more concerning than the stadium. The taxpayer must not think that this will be an additional debt.
Is the Metropolis intended to manage such a stadium in the long term?
-We know how to manage and maintain public buildings. And it won’t necessarily cost more than what it cost us until now. The stadium today represents a net cost for the Metropolis of 7 million euros per year [remboursement de la dette, charges d’exploitation, etc.] ; if we had acceded to the SBA’s requests, we would be around 11 million. The goal is to keep this cost below. We would have liked SBA to look for revenue elsewhere: we see in the program that nothing is planned in terms of concerts or activities apart from the few Girondins or UBB matches. Moreover, what allowed SBA to have balanced accounts in 2023 and probably in 2024, are the events of national and international scope, supported by the public authorities. The ideal, tomorrow: that a possible buyer of the club could also be the owner or operator of the stadium it occupies. This would be the ideal solution. But not at any cost. My responsibility is to preserve the interests of the Metropolis.
How to set the price of such a stadium?
There will be several elements that make up the price. There will be an estimate of the Estates, selling a stadium would be quite unprecedented, there is no reference, and many other parameters: the amount of the debt, the conditions for ending the contract, etc. All of this will have to be looked at very closely.
We are talking about ex-footballer Oliver Kahn for the takeover of the club, or local buyers and an investment fund to buy the stadium: do you confirm that discussions are underway?
Names are circulating (smile). That’s a pretty good sign. For the club and also for the stadium. We have a club that is trying to get back on track and a very beautiful stadium, quality, emblematic equipment. It’s a good heritage. There are still great prospects for investors.
“We know how to manage and maintain public buildings. And it won’t necessarily cost more than what it cost us until now”
Fifteen years after having voted for the creation of this stadium and its financing plan, SBA is on the verge of filing for bankruptcy, the Métropole up against the wall and the Girondins in Nationale 2: what lesson can we draw from this situation?
The conditions of PPP contracting would have merited greater vigilance, and perhaps, on the part of those who signed the contract, to listen a little more to certain opponents who have said things which turn out to be quite true. I think we lacked caution. I do not underestimate the interest and the architectural quality of equipment of this nature, it was important to provide the territory with a stadium of this magnitude, but we were probably a little too blinded by this desire.
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